Auld Lang Syne
by LisbethDreams
Summary: An evening with a few old friends - the Nurses Ball, Elizabeth Webber, Cameron Webber, AJ Quartermaine, Monica Quartermaine, Lucy Coe, Felicia Jones and Lulu Spencer.


Auld Lang Syne - for my favorite soap and for a few of my favorite characters.

* * *

Elizabeth helps Cameron into his second costume of the night. The hospital daycare is presenting three skits at the newly revived Nurses Ball and Cameron just finished performing in the first.

She asks, "Did you have fun?"

"I think I like performing Mom. Did you hear all the applause?"

She is interrupted by a nursing student while replying, "Oh you, you're such a ham."

"Elizabeth, I'm sorry to interrupt but Lucy is screaming in her dressing room. Something about a dress."

"I'll be right there," she says snapping the last snap closed on Cam's superhero costume. "You stay with Miss Dinkledge and your class. I'll be in the front row watching when you perform again."

"Okay mom," Cam called out after her.

Elizabeth gives an encouraging waive to Lulu as she walks bye her. "Are you next?"

"Yes. I can't believe I let my dad talk me into this."

"You'll be great. I know he and Lucky always put together a good routine. It's your turn now, so break a leg."

"Thanks."

Elizabeth continues on to Lucy's dressing room and while still a hallway away she can hear the yelling.

"Maxie said this was from the new winter line. There's no way I'm wearing this monstrosity. Look at it! It's puce for crying out loud. Puce!"

"Now Lucy, if Maxie says it's fashionable, then I believe my daughter."

"Well you don't have to wear it."

"Oh thank God, it's you Elizabeth. I can't wear this dress. Everyone will get up and leave if I go out in this …. thing." Lucy makes a sweeping gesture downward, encompassing the gown. "The ball will be a complete failure."

Elizabeth takes a breath, frantically trying to find the right words. The right words being the ones that would get Lucy out on stage in that couture gown. She tries not to wince when she lies, "The dress looks beautiful on you Lucy and I wouldn't call that puce. It's more of a mauve and mauve is a very popular color right now."

Lucy looks at herself in the mirror. "Really?"

"Yes really. In fact, I just sold a painting that I did in mauve."

"Mauve, huh," Lucy says twirling and admiring herself in the mirror. She missed the silently mouthed "thank you" that Felicia sent to Elizabeth. Lucy pulls at the large bow on her hip and asks "but what about this thing?"

Elizabeth winces again. It is a couture gown, but on the plus side the designer is not on-site. She walks over to Lucy and pulls at the bow. "I think we can remove it … or maybe if we drape the train differently it won't look so," she searches for the right word again, "obvious."

Elizabeth kneels down next to Lucy and starts working with the dress, cringing inwardly as each adjustment makes the bow even more obnoxious. She spies a pair of shears and wonders what the damage would be if she cut off the bow – maybe she could sew it back on before it had to be returned to Crimson. Just then she is saved, by the entrance of a man into the dressing room.

"Lucy, my favorite former step-mother. I just had to stop by and thank you for hosting tonight. Grandfather would have appreciated it."

Lucy reaches out her hand for AJ's. He steps closer to Elizabeth to take it. "Oh AJ. I'm so very happy to do this; for Edward, for the town, and for you."

"On behalf of the hospital board, thank you again." AJ looks down into Elizabeth's eyes, winks and steers Lucy away from the mirror and towards the door. "I believe I just heard your cue."

"But I'm not ready. This dress!"

AJ gives her his most charming smile, "Looks divine on you, but then anything would, even sackcloth and ashes."

"See I told you the dress was fine," Felicia says with a giant smile of relief as she drags Lucy out to the stage.

AJ watches them go before turning to look back at Elizabeth, they catch each others eyes and break into uproarious laughter.

"Oh my God, that dress is hideous," Elizabeth says holding her aching side.

"But not worse then the one she wore in 1994. Do you remember it?"

"It was a bit before my time in Port Charles I'm afraid," she says starting to get up off her knees.

AJ steps forward and gives her a hand up. "I'd forgotten. When I remember the past it seems like I've always had Emily for a sister and that you were always her best friend."

They both grow silent, remembering Emily. A long moment passes before Elizabeth notices that they are still holding hands. She awkwardly slips her fingers from AJ's and nervously begins moving things around in the dressing room.

"Thank you for the save tonight. You prevented me from taking shears to that expensive piece of fabric."

He leans back against a nearby wall, watching her. "Then it looks like you owe me one. The Nurses Ball would probably have had to use some of tonight's donations to pay Todd Manning for the damage. He doesn't seem the forgiving type."

She turns and looks up at him with a small smile, "No he doesn't. So what do I owe you. I like to pay my debts quickly."

"It's a good habit to have," he says. "You can return the favor by rescuing me."

"Rescuing you from what?"

"From myself, from my own company. I'm still the town pariah. Join me at my table for the rest of the night."

"I can't. I have to make sure everything runs like clock-work. Part of planning an event is working during the event to make sure it runs smoothly."

"Lucy knows what she's doing and she has Felicia to stroke her ego. She doesn't need to monopolize you too. And that nursing student... What was her name? Sabrina, is back here too."

"Oh but I..."

"No excuses. You said you owe me one and that you pay your debts quickly. Join me. Come out front and be seen. You planned this event, now enjoy it from the best seat in the house."

"From the best seat huh?"

"Absolutely! Haven't you heard? I'm Port Charles's newest and most eligible bachelor. It adds to my mystique that like Lazarus I rose from the dead." He grins wickedly. "All the women want a piece of me."

"I thought I would be rescuing you from loneliness. Now it sounds like you have women panting after you."

"Well, I'm still a pariah. They pant after me from a distance."

She laughs at the innocent puppy-dog look he flashes her. "You are worse than my sons. Fine, okay, you win. I'll join you. Just let me find Sabrina and tell her not to expect my help the rest of the evening."

She heads for the door but pauses and looks back at him. "This is fun, It feels like I'm playing hookey, pawning off my responsibilities."

He whispers after her, "You should step out from the shadows and have fun more often, it looks good on you."

After explaining to Sabrina, Elizabeth slips to the front of the house and could kick herself. She was on the wrong side of the room from AJ Quartermaine's table. She would have to walk through all the tables to get his, everyone would see her. The clearest path will take her right in front of Carly's table. There is no way that she can get to AJ unseen.

She catches AJ's eyes and sends him a wan smile. He looks disappointed for a second, like he knows that she's about to turn away and go back into the shadows, leaving him alone – with his mother. The look of disappointment is quickly replaced by a wicked and challenging smile as he begins to stand and Elizabeth, panicking, waves him back into his seat. That's all she needs, him to walk over and get her, making her stand out even more. She takes a deep breath and quickly walks through the crowded room, trying hard not to look at anyone, especially Monica or Carly.

AJ stands as she nears, pulling out a chair for her. He leans down to whisper into her ear, "I thought you were going to abandon me."

She turns toward him, "I was."

"But you didn't."

Their eyes catch. "No, I didn't," she says wondering why she's suddenly finding it hard to breath.

"AJ sit down before you make a scene," Monica whispers loudly to her son. Elizabeth looks over at her and they give each other cool smiles in greeting. Monica may respect her as a nurse, but Elizabeth knows the older woman doesn't think highly of her as a person.

Elizabeth allows herself to forget Monica and finds that she is enjoying herself and AJ's company more than she thought she would. He was really quit charming, she thought. He even seemed genuinely interested in Cameron when she did the typical mother thing of singing his praises after his last two performances. She is having so much fun that she can't believe how fast time flew when Lucy steps onto the stage in her last dress change of the evening.

"Thank you, thank you everyone! This has been our most successful Nurses Ball. Together we raised over five million dollars for the Stone Cates Aides Wing of General Hospital and thanks to a generous donation by an anonymous donor," Lucy pauses and Elizabeth could swear that she was looking at AJ, "General Hospital was given three million dollars to start a fund to be used to assist women getting breast cancer treatment at this hospital. These women will not have to decide between feeding their children or getting treatment. Tonight has been about doing good, about reviving old traditions and moving on, but it's also about remembering the loved ones who passed into the light. It has been a tough couple of years for General Hospital. Just this year alone a pathogen took many loved ones from the citizens of Port Charles. In a moment, we will have two minutes of silence. One for remembrance of our loved ones, such as General Hospital's own, Edward Quartermaine, and one for gratitude. Gratitude for our time here, together, and for the generous donations made by all of you this evening. Once the silence ends, we will close the evening with Auld Lang Syne. Thank you, thank you all again."

Elizabeth tucks Cameron a bit closer into her lap, he joined her after his last performance, and looks over at Monica. Monica reaches for AJ's hand, he takes it and reaches for Elizabeth's with his free hand. She gives it to him and they all hold hands during the two minutes of silence. Then the music begins and the room fills with old Robbie Burns 's lyrics, "Should auld acquaintance be forgot, and never brought to mind?"

"He said it best," Elizabeth says as the song ends.

"Yes he did," AJ says while grabbing his glass of sparkling cider. "Let's drink a toast to old friends, to endings..."

Elizabeth wistfully smiles and finishes his thought, "And to new beginnings."


End file.
